


Odd Man Out

by MisMiz (Jaaaaack51)



Category: The Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Background Slash, Belonging, Character Study, Friendship, Gen, Loneliness, Magnificent Seven AU: ATF, Masks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-22
Updated: 2015-10-22
Packaged: 2018-04-27 15:20:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5053816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaaaaack51/pseuds/MisMiz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seven is an odd number. Or is it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Odd Man Out

"I’ll have a glass of wine, please." Ezra Standish turned away from the bar a few minutes later with a small smile of thanks for Inez. Out of habit, he began making his way towards the corner table. The one the “Magnificent 7” ATF team considered “theirs”. As he got closer, he realized, to his dismay, that it was already occupied. 

"Mr. Tanner. I thought you had plans with our fearless leader this evening." Ezra strove for a cool, amused tone as he stopped a few feet away from Team 7’s sharpshooter. 

"I do. Chris is running a bit late is all. What happened to **your** _date of surpassing charm and beauty in elegant surroundings that we barbaric louts would completely fail to appreciate?"_ The sharpshooter effortlessly quoted Ezra’s own words from earlier that day back to him. 

The southern agent felt the color rise in his cheeks. Hoping the dim light would hide the telltale sign, he forced a smile onto his face. 

"Yes. Well, it seems that even dates of surpassing charm and beauty are not immune to the flu that’s been going around." 

Ezra hoped to God the other man didn’t ask him for further details. Because everything he had said so far was a complete and utter fabrication. He had never had a date for this evening. He didn’t have any plans for the whole weekend, as a matter of fact. He just hadn’t wanted the rest of the team to know that. Especially since they had all been full of talk about their plans. None of which included him. 

He didn't want them knowing how little else he had outside of work. How he was always the odd man out, no matter where he was. With them. With Maude. Hell, even the last woman he really had dated put everyone else before him, including her damn dog. It really was only fitting that he should be on Team 7 since it was an odd number, both mathematically and as it applied to him, the odd man out. 

"Well, why don’t you have a seat then, Ez? Unless you got somewhere else to be?" Vin smiled up at the southern agent, blue eyes twinkling. Ezra had the uneasy feeling that the other man was aware of his out and out lies. But he sat down as bidden. Vin spoke the truth, after all. He had nowhere else to be. No one else to be with. 

Both men were silent for a few minutes. Vin had never been the type to chatter or make small talk. It was one of the things Ezra most admired about the man. He didn’t feel the need for a smokescreen, like Ezra did. Didn't need an endless repertoire of clever remarks and amusing anecdotes, all designed to keep people from recognizing how very alone he felt. How very alone he was. The sharpshooter simply presented himself to the world with no fanfare or fuss. Take it or leave it. And for the most part, they took it. Like ducks take to water, as Buck would have said. Ezra wondered how he could have reached the ripe old age of thirty-two, have a phone full of contacts, work closely with a group of six other men in an office building which housed hundreds of employees, and still have no one to call on Friday night.

"So, are you and Mr. Larabee still determined to take in a showing of the latest in movie mayhem?" Ezra finally asked. The silence at the table had begun to seem fraught with meaning. As if Vin were just waiting for Ezra to confess to being a pathetic misfit who felt obligated to lie about his off duty plans so that his coworkers wouldn’t actually know what a pathetic misfit he was.

"They’re showing the original Terminator movie at the old theater downtown. We’re going to see that." Vin’s smile held more than a trace of amusement. 

The whole office knew how much Chris Larabee disliked that particular movie. Ezra felt a stab of envy. It must be nice to have someone willing to do something they dislike, just for you. The southern agent knew that his fellow agents would lay down their lives in the line of duty for him, if necessary. But that was different. It was work. Not personal. 

"That sounds…nice." It wasn’t what Ezra had meant to say. And certainly he hadn’t meant to allow that slightly wistful tone to creep into his voice. He tried to cover his momentary lapse with a flippant remark.

"And just how did you wrangle that particular concession out of him anyway, pray tell? Promise to do all his paperwork from now until eternity?" Ezra looked away quickly when he saw those keen blue eyes staring at him thoughtfully.

"Naw. Just promised he could pick the next movie we see." The sharpshooter leaned back in his chair. “Not everything has to be bought and paid for you know.” 

“Quite so. I did not mean to imply…” Ezra began, furiously reminding himself that silence was golden. He had to remember that. Had to stop making flippant remarks that inevitably pushed everyone away. But he knew he wouldn’t. Couldn’t.

Vin cut him off in mid-sentence, his lips quirked in a mischievous smile. “But I do believe in rewarding good behavior and Chris knows that.” 

“Yes, well. I am sure Mr. Larabee will feel amply rewarded by your company.” Ezra quickly took a drink of his wine. He hadn’t meant to sound quite so…sincere. His masks seemed to be slipping tonight. He wished he could blame it on the wine.

"What are your plans for the rest of the weekend?" Vin asked, sipping his beer casually. If he heard anything untoward in Ezra’s comment it was not reflected in his demeanor.

Ezra thought quickly. "There is a new exhibit opening at the art museum. I shall most likely attend that."

"You taking anyone?" Vin raised his glass to take another drink, eyeing his companion over the rim, as he waited for an answer.

"No." Ezra sighed, suddenly not feeling up to any more deceptions. His life had been built on them. And look where it had gotten him.

"Mind if Chris and I tag along, then? We aint doing nothing tomorrow." Vin asked, unaware that Ezra had overheard them making plans with Buck and JD to go to the antique car show they were having at the convention center.

The southern agent opened his mouth to refuse Vin’s offer then snapped it shut again when he looked at the other man’s face. Understanding. Sympathy. Friendship. They were all there on display. Only he had never noticed them before. Ezra wondered if maybe these things had been there all along. His for the taking if he wanted them. He’d be a fool not to, he was beginning to realize. Pride be damned. He was tired of being the odd man out. If Vin was willing to go to all this trouble for him, and drag Chris along too, the least Ezra could do would be to meet him halfway.

"No indeed, Mr. Tanner. Vin. I do not mind in the least if you and Mr. Larabee tag along. In fact, I shall look forward to it." Ezra smiled and raised his glass in a toast to tomorrow. Maybe seven didn’t have to be an odd number in anything but math.

**Author's Note:**

> Poor Ezra. If he wasn't so much fun to write he could be off somewhere fleecing unwary travelers out of their hard earned money or whatever with no one (i.e. lots of fanfic writers) to bother him. Thanks for reading. :)


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